New coach for U.S. girls

Jeff Kampersal to lead over women’s U18 national team

COLORADO SPRINGS, USA – Jeff Kampersal, head women's ice hockey coach at Princeton University, will serve as head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team for the 2012-13 season.

Meanwhile, Courtney Kennedy, assistant coach at Boston College, and Steve Guider, head coach of the Blaine Girls' High School Team in Minnesota, will serve as assistant coaches.

"We've got a terrific staff, each who brings something a little bit different to the table," said Reagan Carey, director of women's hockey for USA Hockey.

The 2012-13 season includes the USA Hockey Women's National Festival (August 2012/Blaine, Minn.), the 2012 Women's Under-18 Series, a three-game competition against Canada (Aug. 16-19/Blaine, Minn.) and culminates with the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in the winter.

Kampersal is serving as coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team for the first time after having been involved in multiple USA Hockey Women's Select Festivals and Player Development Camps. He has been the head coach for 15 years at Princeton and his teams have averaged better than 17 wins per season, more than four wins more per season than in the first 17 years of the women's program. In 15 seasons, he has amassed a 233-184-41 record behind the Princeton bench.

A 1992 graduate of Princeton, Kampersal served as the captain of the men's hockey team as a senior. An All-Ivy League and All-ECAC selection, Kampersal shares the school record for consecutive games played with 107. Kampersal played high school hockey at St. John's Prep in Danvers, Mass., and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2009. A 10th-round selection of the New York Islanders in the 1998 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Kampersal played for the East Coast Hockey League's Richmond Renegades and the American Hockey League's Capital District Islanders.

Kennedy is currently in her fifth season on the Boston College coaching staff after serving as the head coach of women's ice hockey at Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Mass., for three years. A mainstay on the U.S. Women's National Team from 2001-06, Kennedy was on the U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Teams in 2002 (silver) and 2006 (bronze). She also played for Team USA when it captured the gold medal at the 2005 IIHF Women's World Championship. She currently sits on the Executive Board of USA Hockey as an Athlete Director. Kennedy began her collegiate career with Colby College before transferring to the University of Minnesota. In 2001, she was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given annually to the most outstanding women's college player, after making the top-10 in 1998. In 2008, Kennedy was inducted into the Minnesota Hall of Fame.

Guider has over two decades of coaching experience. Currently in his 10th season as head coach of the Blaine Girls' High School Team in Minnesota, Guider has accumulated multiple coaching awards including the Charlie Stryker Coach of the Year in 2004 and Butch Nash Outstanding Assistant Coach of the Year in 2008. He has been the head goalie coach at the USA Hockey Girls' Player Development Camps for the last 11 seasons. Additionally, Guider has been involved in a number of the U.S. Women's National Team camps and events.